Afraid To Love
by AliasDemon99
Summary: Sydney and Irina talk: "Why are you afraid to love Sydney?" ~Chap 2: Sydney is no longer afraid to love-post Phase One~ R/R!!!
1. Default Chapter

*  
Afraid To Love  
*  
  
"Why are you afraid to love Sydney?" Irina asks in monotone.  
  
"It's not that I'm afraid to love, it is that I am afraid to lose the love." Sydney exhales.  
  
"How can you though, be afraid to love. How can you ever experience what love is like if you never take the final step, take the chance to see if it works?"  
  
"If I take that final step for one person, I may never be able to turn back. If something were to happen to that person, I would be afraid to love again."   
  
"So are you telling me you would like to live your life having never known what love felt like?"  
  
"I have felt love once, but he was taken from me. I won't let that happen again to me."  
  
"One occurrence does not foretell the future. It is not previously determined that you will lose those you chance to love. It is a strange force of nature that decides it. And may the force decide it to come to an end, you cannot just give up. Being let down once only teaches you lessons about the future."  
  
"I am afraid to set my heart up to be broken. I am afraid once I have broken it again, for the first time, I will not be able to put it back together."  
  
"Sydney, you should know this by now, life is not worth living without love. So you think I could stay sane living in this cell without love. My love for you is what keeps me breathing. Living each day to its end and then starting over again in the morning."  
  
"What you do not understand, is that you do love, secretly inside of you. Otherwise, you would not be able to exist on this earth. Tell me, Sydney, why do you even bother getting out of bed in the morning, if it is not for Vaughn, then what is it for?"  
  
"I wake up in the morning for revenge. Revenge on SD-6." She answers simply.  
  
"That is love Sydney."  
  
"What is love?"  
  
"Love comes in many forms, revenge is only one."  
  
"It is terrible to say a person loves revenge!"  
  
"It is only terrible if the revenge is wanted for the wrong reasons, for injustice. You want revenge to quell the hurt you felt for Danny."  
  
Sydney stares in silent contemplation.  
  
"Once you get that revenge, Sydney, what will get you up in the morning then?"  
  
"I don't know, that is the future."  
  
"Exactly. One can never predict what is to happen, no one can predict love. Only the forces of nature can determine our prospects and our future. It is good to love. It keeps you going. You should love Vaughn. Take the chance."  
  
Sydney leaves quietly. And Irina takes the opportunity to love her daughter more. 


	2. Chapter Two

*  
Afraid to Love-2  
*  
  
Sydney approached her mother's cell confidently. The entire Alliance was gone, and she was free. Free to be normal, and free to love a certain someone.  
  
"Hey Mom." Sydney smiled widely as her mother greeted her, smiling in return.  
  
"You look happy." Irina stated, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"I am happy." Sydney looked into her mother's eyes, unafraid of what the future might hold, unafraid of showing her joy.  
  
"Today, we took down the entire Alliance." She confided gleefully.  
  
Irina first revealed an expression of shock, then the same joyful smile Sydney displayed mounted itself across her face. "Really?"   
  
"Yes. They are all gone. And I am free." Sydney almost sighed in contentment.  
  
"I am happy for you, Sydney." Irina's expression turned sorrowful.  
  
"What's wrong, Mom, you are supposed to be happy." Sydney stepped closer to the glass that seperated them.  
  
"Oh Sydney. Am I right to assume you will be leaving the CIA then?"   
  
Sydney nodded, confused.  
  
"Then you may never visit me again..." Irina trailed off, a few tears falling from her unsteady eyes.  
  
"I will visit. You are my mother and we still have about 20 years of catching up to do." Sydney winked, her smile returning.  
  
Irina wiped the tears from her eyes, "I'm so glad to hear you say that."  
  
Their quiet conversation was interrupted as Vaughn entered the hallway, stopping at Sydney's side.   
  
Sydney looked up at him lovingly as he put his arm protectively around her slender waist without hesitation.  
  
The couple held giddy grins as their eyes met.  
  
Irina noticed every move, every glance. Her daughter was happy. She was in love with her handler. They could be together without fear.  
  
"We had better be going, Syd. Your dad just about threw a fit when I told him you were coming here before coming to see him in the hospital." Vaughn laughed nervously.  
  
"Jack is in the hospital?" Irina gaped.  
  
"He was being tortured when we raided the office, shock-torture..." Sydney trailed off, her eyes focused on the floor.  
  
"Oh goodness. Well then, you had better go, and thank you for coming to see me." Irina smiled.  
  
"I'll visit soon." Sydney exited with Vaughn's arm still firmly around her waist. When they reached the end of the hallway, where they thought Irina couldn't see them, they kissed.  
  
But Irina did see. And she smiled. Her daughter was no longer afraid to love.  
  
* 


End file.
